This application relates to surgical systems, assemblies, devices, and methods that may be used for less invasive and/or minimally invasive surgery, and in particular relates to surgical systems, assemblies, devices, and methods that may relate to gaining access to and/or treatment of the spine.
Spinal surgery presents significant difficulties to the physician attempting to reduce chronic back pain or correct spinal deformities without introducing additional trauma due to the surgical procedure itself. In order to access the vertebrae to perform spinal procedures, the physician is typically required to make large incisions and cut or strip muscle tissue surrounding the spine. In addition, care must be taken not to injure nerve tissue in the area. Consequently, traditional surgical procedures of this type carry high risks of scarring, pain, significant blood loss, and extended recovery times.
Systems, assemblies, devices, and methods for performing less invasive and/or minimally invasive techniques have been proposed to reduce the trauma of posterior spinal surgery by reducing the size of the incision and the degree of muscle stripping in order to access the vertebrae. A number of different such systems, assemblies, devices, and methods are known, each having certain advantages and disadvantages. However, there is an ongoing need to provide alternative systems, assemblies, devices, and methods for gaining access to and/or treating the spine of a patient.